Hogath, My Dad 1700-2000

Henry James who visited Millbank penitentuary in1884 made use of his visit. In the novel "The Princess Casamassina" (1886) he has Miss Pynsent describe the "Brown, bare, windowless walls, ugly, truncated pinnacles and a character unspeakably sad and stern. It looked very sinister and wicked, to Miss Pynsent's eyes, and she wondered why a prison should have such an evil air if it was erected in the interest of justice and order... ...it threw a blight on the face of the day, making the river seem foul and poisonous." As with today, there was considerable delay in government building programmes. Transportation to Australia, made possible in 1787, began to relieve the pressure on the stinking hulks. It was not until 1817 that Millbank penitentiary finally opened.